diff --git a/controller/dataplane/watch.go b/controller/dataplane/watch.go
index 55af38902..1d017d0ee 100644
--- a/controller/dataplane/watch.go
+++ b/controller/dataplane/watch.go
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@ package dataplane
 import (
 	"context"
 
+	"github.com/samber/lo"
 	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
 	autoscalingv2 "k8s.io/api/autoscaling/v2"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	policyv1 "k8s.io/api/policy/v1"
-	k8stypes "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/builder"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/source"
 
 	operatorv1beta1 "github.com/kong/gateway-operator/api/v1beta1"
+	"github.com/kong/gateway-operator/internal/utils/index"
 	"github.com/kong/gateway-operator/pkg/consts"
 )
 
@@ -64,30 +65,17 @@ func listDataPlanesReferencingKongPluginInstallation(
 		if kpiToFind == "" {
 			return nil
 		}
-
 		var dataPlaneList operatorv1beta1.DataPlaneList
-		if err := c.List(ctx, &dataPlaneList); client.IgnoreNotFound(err) != nil {
+		if err := c.List(ctx, &dataPlaneList, client.MatchingFields{
+			index.KongPluginInstallationsIndex: kpiToFind,
+		}); err != nil {
 			logger.Error(err, "Failed to list DataPlanes in watch", "KongPluginInstallation", kpiToFind)
 			return nil
 		}
-		var dataPlanesToReconcile []reconcile.Request
-		for _, dp := range dataPlaneList.Items {
-			for _, ptiNN := range dp.Spec.PluginsToInstall {
-				kpiNN := k8stypes.NamespacedName(ptiNN)
-				if kpiNN.Namespace == "" {
-					kpiNN.Namespace = dp.Namespace
-				}
-
-				if kpiNN.String() == kpiToFind {
-					dataPlanesToReconcile = append(
-						dataPlanesToReconcile,
-						reconcile.Request{
-							NamespacedName: client.ObjectKeyFromObject(&dp),
-						},
-					)
-				}
+		return lo.Map(dataPlaneList.Items, func(dp operatorv1beta1.DataPlane, _ int) reconcile.Request {
+			return reconcile.Request{
+				NamespacedName: client.ObjectKeyFromObject(&dp),
 			}
-		}
-		return dataPlanesToReconcile
+		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/utils/index/index.go b/internal/utils/index/index.go
index 8e48b33a3..9a002799c 100644
--- a/internal/utils/index/index.go
+++ b/internal/utils/index/index.go
@@ -12,8 +12,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	// DataPlaneNameIndex is the key to be used to access the .spec.dataplaneName indexed values
+	// DataPlaneNameIndex is the key to be used to access the .spec.dataplaneName indexed values.
 	DataPlaneNameIndex = "dataplane"
+
+	// KongPluginInstallationsIndex is the key to be used to access the .spec.pluginsToInstall indexed values,
+	// in a form of list of namespace/name strings.
+	KongPluginInstallationsIndex = "KongPluginInstallations"
 )
 
 // DataPlaneNameOnControlPlane indexes the ControlPlane .spec.dataplaneName field
@@ -37,3 +41,33 @@ func DataPlaneNameOnControlPlane(ctx context.Context, c cache.Cache) error {
 		return []string{}
 	})
 }
+
+// KongPluginInstallationsOnDataPlane indexes the DataPlane .spec.pluginsToInstall field
+// on the "kongPluginInstallations" key.
+func KongPluginInstallationsOnDataPlane(ctx context.Context, c cache.Cache) error {
+	if _, err := c.GetInformer(ctx, &operatorv1beta1.DataPlane{}); err != nil {
+		if meta.IsNoMatchError(err) {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get informer for v1beta1 DataPlane: %w, disabling indexing KongPluginInstallations for DataPlanes' .spec.pluginsToInstall", err)
+	}
+	return c.IndexField(
+		ctx,
+		&operatorv1beta1.DataPlane{},
+		KongPluginInstallationsIndex,
+		func(o client.Object) []string {
+			dp, ok := o.(*operatorv1beta1.DataPlane)
+			if !ok {
+				return nil
+			}
+			result := make([]string, 0, len(dp.Spec.PluginsToInstall))
+			for _, kpi := range dp.Spec.PluginsToInstall {
+				if kpi.Namespace == "" {
+					kpi.Namespace = dp.Namespace
+				}
+				result = append(result, kpi.Namespace+"/"+kpi.Name)
+			}
+			return result
+		},
+	)
+}
diff --git a/modules/manager/controller_setup.go b/modules/manager/controller_setup.go
index 54b49edb9..8790fb1c4 100644
--- a/modules/manager/controller_setup.go
+++ b/modules/manager/controller_setup.go
@@ -147,9 +147,22 @@ func (c *ControllerDef) MaybeSetupWithManager(ctx context.Context, mgr ctrl.Mana
 
 func setupIndexes(ctx context.Context, mgr manager.Manager, cfg Config) error {
 	if cfg.ControlPlaneControllerEnabled || cfg.GatewayControllerEnabled {
+		log.GetLogger(ctx, "ControlPlane", cfg.DevelopmentMode).Info(
+			"creating index",
+			"indexField", index.DataPlaneNameIndex,
+		)
 		if err := index.DataPlaneNameOnControlPlane(ctx, mgr.GetCache()); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to setup index for DataPlane names on ControlPlane: %w", err)
 		}
+		if cfg.KongPluginInstallationControllerEnabled {
+			log.GetLogger(ctx, "DataPlane", cfg.DevelopmentMode).Info(
+				"creating index",
+				"indexField", index.KongPluginInstallationsIndex,
+			)
+			if err := index.KongPluginInstallationsOnDataPlane(ctx, mgr.GetCache()); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to setup index for KongPluginInstallations on DataPlane: %w", err)
+			}
+		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -557,9 +570,8 @@ func setupCacheIndicesForKonnectType[
 		logger         = log.GetLogger(ctx, entityTypeName, developmentMode)
 	)
 	for _, ind := range konnect.ReconciliationIndexOptionsForEntity[TEnt]() {
-		logger.Info("creating index",
-			"entityTypeName", entityTypeName,
-			"indexObject", ind.IndexObject,
+		logger.Info(
+			"creating index",
 			"indexField", ind.IndexField,
 		)
 		err := mgr.
diff --git a/modules/manager/run.go b/modules/manager/run.go
index 053ef382a..93f7cbf08 100644
--- a/modules/manager/run.go
+++ b/modules/manager/run.go
@@ -199,8 +199,7 @@ func Run(
 		secretName:      cfg.ClusterCASecretName,
 		secretNamespace: cfg.ClusterCASecretNamespace,
 	}
-	err = mgr.Add(caMgr)
-	if err != nil {
+	if err = mgr.Add(caMgr); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unable to start manager: %w", err)
 	}